MOSCAPARTNERS VARIATIONS AT PALAZZO LITTA – MDW 2025

Images courtesy of MoscaPartners

The installation “Nobody Owns the Land: Earth, Forest, Mahk” by Byoung Soo Cho

MoscaPartners return to Palazzo Litta for Milano Design Week from April 6 to 13, 2025, with “MoscaPartners Variations”, a collective exhibition focusing on innovative design and creativity.

The exhibition, titled “Migrations” delves into the exchange of ideas and the blending of cultures and visions, highlighting traditions that are both geographically and conceptually distant. Byoung Soo Cho, a Korean architect, unveiled his first site-specific installation in Italy, titled “Nobody Owns the Land: Earth, Forest, Mahk“, harmonizes Eastern and Western architectural philosophies.

The exhibition also caters to the visually impaired, with Adrenalina and Debonademeo Studio collaborating on the installation Adrenalina Meets Museo Omero and Istituto Cavazza, which makes the entire exhibition accessible to blind and visually impaired visitors.  This emphasizes the significance of universal access to culture and promotes a broader, more sensitive view of the design world.

Presented by Molteni & C

Thanks to the vision of MoscaPartners founders Valerio Castelli and Caterina Mosca, Palazzo Litta has been a landmark for international professionals during Milan Design Week since 2014. MoscaPartners has brought important venues like the Istituto Marchiondi Spagliardi and Circolo Filologico Milanese to life in the last three editions.

To interpret the migration theme through cultural blending, idea sharing, and the mutual enrichment of innovation and tradition. Through discussions with renowned international architects, the exhibition showcases Milan Design Week’s capacity to forge new alliances and develop solutions for the future.

The installation “Nobody Owns the Land: Earth, Forest, Mahk” by Byoung Soo Cho is located in Palazzo Litta’s Main Courtyard. The artwork depicts a red earth-covered suspended platform reflecting the blue sky of Milan. In addition to offering a place for meditation, the installation invites visitors to enter barefoot to feel the sensation of the ground beneath their feet. Cho emphasizes that the earth, which is never born, gives birth to countless stories of life and that we are inextricably bound together, living and embracing one another.

The second element of the installation is The Forest, which extends between the columns of the first section of the portico. Cho greets guests with horizontal displays of his abstract paintings, which blend ink, paint, and earth. Each piece was conceived at a different time and was made with quick, spontaneous gestures. Cho draws attention to the pieces’ horizontal continuity and vertical layering, which combine to form a forest-like installation that portrays a range of events and life memories.

From within the courtyard, the words “Nobody Owns the Land” are visible, promoting an inclusive and global perspective on the planet. The paintings display the beauty of Mahk, the imperfect and impromptu approach to creation, through a texture that flows and curves naturally under the weight of its elements. Cho also uses the earth to make traditional Korean ceramics called mahksabal. Every piece is the result of a humble process that involves making marks on the clay, releasing energy that has been captured from the materials, and accepting a result that is naturally conceived in its imperfections.

The installation invites viewers to rediscover the beauty in material and simplicity as it ends in a perfect circle. The Korean perspective is distinguished by an odd spontaneity, whereby seemingly unimportant details eventually reveal a deep emotional resonance. The word “Mahk” which conjures feelings of emptiness and reverence for the environment, is especially good at conveying the aesthetic potential of these conditions.